Review: Rainbow Rowell – Eleanor & Park

Posted on by
Reply
Eleanor & Park
Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor and Park have a interesting start. He thinks she’s nuts, she doesn’t think anything at all. Both of them have issues, problems, that neither can talk about. Perhaps together they can make a difference in each other’s lives.

There’s never really an explanation for Eleanor’s clothing choices. Is it something she does to annoy her step-father? I could not believe Eleanor’s mother. Why on earth would she put up with a guy like that? Where was the income even coming from? I know that domestic violence is something that is tangible and real, but also that there are safe-guards put in place, and that help is available.

The sub-plots, and actual development of the other characters other than Eleanor and Park, were just as compelling as the others. It’s a coming of age story, but also a genuine love story. I recognise the heady honeymoon period of a new relationship, where neither partner can get enough of the other.This novel has breathtaking action that will leave you longing for more about the future. But the ending! Noooooo. I hated it. I wanted something more to come of it. Poor Park! At the same time I could exactly understand Eleanor’s point-of-view, and yet still hated it.

Other people have pulled holes in this novel because of the setting. I honestly don’t know enough about US history to know whether things are historically correct. Anyway, I don’t think I’d care. The characters are what make the book for me, not the setting.

I’ve read a series of amazing novels lately, but I think this one comes out on top. It’s got a lot of important issues, and characters that actually learn and grow. I want to get my hands on her other novels as soon as possible!

I bought this novel after having received Fangirl from a publisher. Well worth it, and would strongly recommend it to anyone interested in teen fiction.

Find it on:
goodreads_icon copyAmazon-Icon-e1335803835577-300x294 copybookdepository_icon copy5star

Review: Stephanie Meyer – The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

Posted on by
Reply
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner
Stephanie Meyer
Bree is a new-born vampire. She has been created with a purpose. But she doesn’t know what that purpose is. A venture out into the sunlight with Diago means new potentials.
Considering that I pretty much completely loathed Twilight, you might wonder why I bothered to read this tacked on bit of story about a seriously minor character. Well, it was what my library had to offer at the time in the range of talking books.

One of my main problems with the Twilight Saga was that Edward and Bella were such one-dimensional characters. Their love story was set from the beginning, and neither of them could think past “I love you” “I want to protect you” “I love you”.

Meyer seems obsessed with sappy love stories, and vampires feeling connections with each other. Bree falls for Diego, Diego falls for Bree, each dies, everyone is sad. Not.

Bree shows a bit more interest in life outside. You know she is doomed from the beginning, otherwise it wouldn’t be a ‘short’ second life. I didn’t remember her at all from Eclipse though, until I got to the climax of this novel. Then ta-da! I remembered her. I also connected with her.

I wished that the background information included in this novel (such as the sparkling skin and Victoria’s violent ways) had been present in Twilight to provide a bit more substance. Somehow, this novella seems like it’s more interesting.

What I liked was that the abilities of Freaky Fred and the others. I wanted more of that! Less newborn, stupid, revenging vampires, and more smart ones. From the way The Twilight Saga was written, I expected more of the vampires to be smart and skilled. All of the Cullen family are skilled.

What can I say about a short story/novella. I always find it difficult to get into them. At least with this one, I had borrowed it as a talking book from the library. It took little effort from me to listen to it. The reader was ok, great with Bree’s voice, not so good with the male characters. There is no way I would have read it for myself – I have other things to get on with reading!

Find it on:
goodreads_icon copyAmazon-Icon-e1335803835577-300x294 copybookdepository_icon copy2star

Review: Nina LaCour – The Disenchantments

Posted on by
Reply

The Disenchantments
Nina LaCour

Colby is about to set off on a tour. Not as a band member though, just a devoted servant to his best friend who’s the singer in the band. He’s going to travel Europe, develop his drawing, and he thought he would have someone with him. What went wrong?

They meet various people along the way, and each one seems like they have a story, a background, something important to add. Even as at the same time you want to fit them into stereotypes, you just can’t. We don’t see much character development in my opinion for the 3 girls. Bev seems just as mean, and although we hear about the major events in their lives, and how they affected their person in the past, we don’t see that development in the future/present.

Sometimes it seems like the novel is just dragging along. Which is frustrating! I don’t remember having this problem with Hold Still. Ah well. Perhaps this one was just not as familiar in content to that amazing novel.

I loved the story behind the tattoo, and the weird world of coincidences. I did want Colby to become a graffiti artist, but hey, not everything can happen at once you know? A lot of the time I felt really angry with Bev. And I still felt angry even after her weak explanations. She should have just said something! Then Colby wouldn’t have been the one who suffered.

The cover of this novel is very much the way I would have imagined the girls. Except Bev. Colby is supposed to be able to see her neck to sketch it! The ending is just the way I would have hoped. Yay! Colby! Independence! Not having regrets! An excellent 4 star read.

Find it on:
goodreads_icon copyAmazon-Icon-e1335803835577-300x294 copybookdepository_icon copy4star

Review: D.M. Cornish – Tales from the Half-Continent (Monster Blood Tattoo)

Posted on by
Reply
Tales from the Half-Continent (Monster Blood Tattoo)
D.M. Cornish
These are two original Tales that are set in the Monster Blood Tattoo universe. Please keep in mind that I have not read the originals in this series.
‘The Corsers’ Hinge’
Bunting Faukes has a debt and no way to repay it – times are tough for grave robbers. But a way out is presented in the person of Atticus Wells, a sleuth with strange eyes that see into everything.
I was frustrated from the very beginning about the references to different things and people that I was just expected to know. Jumping into these as a set of short stories, the background was just not grabbing enough.
This story started out with Bunting, then jumped back to the sleuth, then back to the present. I would suggest that this was jarring, except that the segue back into the present was flawless.
The ending of this seemed inevitable. A possible reward against an obvious one? I only wish there had been some escape, and that something bigger would come of it.
‘The Fuller and the Bogle’
Virtue Bland is alone in the world. Packed off to Brandenbrass to serve the household of her late father’s employer, she has only her old pa’s olfactologue to remember him by. But with it she can smell monsters.
This short story resonated more firmly with me. Having gotten a basic grasp of it in ‘The Corsers Hinge’, this one went a lot more smoothly. I liked Virtue, I enjoyed the back story, and I felt for her. Not a complete loss.
I would consider reading the other novels in the series – if only someone would give them to me to review! Personal reading is just so far down the list of things I have to do.
I received this novel from Scholastic in return for a fair and honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
Book blurbs are taken from Goodreads.

Find it on:
goodreads_icon copyAmazon-Icon-e1335803835577-300x294 copybookdepository_icon copy3star

Review: Victoria Scott – Fire and Flood

Posted on by
Reply
Fire and Flood
Victoria Scott
Tella is a Contender. Not that she knows what a Contender is or does. But she is one. She needs to find her Pandora, and go for the race as hard as she can, to save her sick brother. This may mean sacrifices, but at the same time she might gain something else.
There were some really mixed reviews on this novel on Goodreads. Some people compared it to The Hunger Games, and found it lacking, and others really liked. Me? I loved it. I thought it was better than The Hunger Games (my review here).
You know how in the waiting periods of The Hunger Games, there was just nothing going on? Here, there is something going on, and the back story being developed is huge. Sometimes I feel like other reviewers didn’t even get through the whole thing.
Tella is a character anyone can relate to. She doesn’t know what she’s doing, she doesn’t have any great skills, and the only thing she has that might tip the balance is her Pandora egg. Which hasn’t even hatched by the beginning of the first challenge. It’s great to see her character development as she gets more hardened, but also more questioning.
Tella, through her new friends, is able to get a grasp on the external factors. The contestants aren’t all in the dark. Another reason this hits with me, is that the whole situation is actually possible in our world. It’s an average town, with average people, and yet the outside world has other ideas.
I liked the fact that there could be more than one winner. I mean sure, people were dying, but it wasn’t quite so bad. At least they had opted in (with the ultimate price in store), and could opt out at practically any time (I think). Sacrifices needed to be made though.
The ending! Arg! I didn’t want to see the ending! I really really enjoyed reading it. So much so that I actually wrote to the author straight after reading it, and said thank you for producing such a fabulous book. I would recommend this novel over The Hunger Games personally.
I received this novel free as a review copy, but my opinions remain my own.

Find it on:
goodreads_icon copyAmazon-Icon-e1335803835577-300x294 copybookdepository_icon copy5star

Review: Sandeep Patel – A Potion

Posted on by
Reply
A Potion
Sandeep Patel
I worried that the English in this book, and the language would be poor, and it was.

I felt like much of the novel really had no plot. There were some marvellous descriptions, but also some boring tracts of repetitive dogma. There were many ways of life that were introduced, and I felt like I was being thrown literally around the universe with no real anchor or connection with each of the parts.

The author informed me that this book was based on a journey of enlightenment based on his religion, and I did see some signs of that. If I look at it primarily in that light, it is no better of worse than the Bible, if a little more accessible. Eastern religions often have more life, but in this case I felt like it dragged.
I received this book as a ebook after being requested by the author to read and review it. Unfortunately, it took me quite a long time to get into the book and I did not finish reading it. Not recommended.

Find it on:
goodreads_icon copyAmazon-Icon-e1335803835577-300x294 copybookdepository_icon copy1star

Review: Anne Pfeffer – Girls Love Travis Walker

Posted on by
Reply
 Girls Love Travis Walker
Anne Pfeffer

Travis is a star with girls. He’s not so crash hot at schooling, but he’s good enough at hauling brush. He needs to support his mother, who seems to be getting sicker all the time. Then he meets Kat and Zoe, and one of them will change his life.

I loved this novel. I’ve read my two new Pfeffer books in less than a week. Something about her writing is just snappy and compulsive to read. This book tackles difficult things, like depression, homelessness and being a drop-out.

Goodness knows I don’t have much experience with guys like Travis. But I can see how his charm could hit girls. I really can’t understand the girls who want just a night of sex, but maybe I just don’t understand their brains. Just as not all men are after sex, I guess not all women can be after relationships.

The cover on this is great. Just the way I’d imagine Travis to look. Lean, tanned, rakish. The thing that redeems Travis in the beginning and makes you want to keep reading, is his relationship with his mother. His other relationships seem fleeting, and it’s because he refuses to admit there is anything wrong that he can’t cope with.

This is like an older teenage version of Gracie’s Girl. This novel is obviously aimed at a much older audience, and so it has more grunt to it. Still, the ending was sweet. Somehow everything came out right. Still, I’m not sure it’s heart touching. It’s not a sappy romance. It’s raw, abrasive and not easy to read. The details Pfeffer fits into the novel makes me think she’s been in that world, it’s that good. A well recommended read for teenagers.

Find it on:
goodreads_icon copyAmazon-Icon-e1335803835577-300x294 copybookdepository_icon copy

Review Update: 1 December 2021 – I originally only gave this 4 stars, but I’m upgrading it to a 5 stars since I obviously reread it. It was a comfort read, and I loved Travis’ character just as much the second (or maybe third) time around. Something about the combination of purposeful overloading and yet carefully balanced life of Travis gets me every time.

Review: Shannon Hale – Book of a Thousand Days

Posted on by
Reply
Book of a Thousand Days
Shannon Hale
This is told from an interesting perspective of a diary. Even though you know someone must be writing it, and you assume it is Dashti each time, you sometimes think that someone else has taken over, because the events she is writing about are too overwhelming or odd.
The synopsis for this on Goodreads suggests that the conclusion is so romantic that no reader will be left dry-eyed. I was dry-eyed. I didn’t connect with Dashti or Lady Saren enough. I felt quite empty after reading it really, and I didn’t ever feel worry.
I felt frustrated that Dashti didn’t make more of an effort to escape. She just waited until things were desperate. She’d rather stay in the tower than be exposed to men. She has a knife! Why doesn’t she protect herself? Surely she has a song to escape? The songs were good, I did like those.
I also felt frustrated in the end of the evil warlord. Dashti was very brave, but damn she’s stupid! She was doing what was noble. And right, I suppose. But damn! Why does she have to be so loyal to someone who doesn’t deserve her help? I guess she is too good-hearted.
The remote tower is a stolen idea. It was stolen from a Grimm’s fairy tale. There are so many adaptations of fairytales these days, and Hale does a lot of them (such as The Goose Girl). It makes me annoyed that no-one has any new creativity and has to resort to old stories instead of new ideas. Even some of my favourite authors are responsible for that sort of thing.
What can I take away from this story that I couldn’t have gotten out of a regular book? What girls can relate to this story and dream of their own fairytale ending? What if they are all like Lady Saren? Why is she so stupid? Get a spine! Don’t depend on loyalty to get you anywhere or magic to take a hand.
Sometimes I don’t realise how much I didn’t enjoy a book until after I have read it. This is one of those ones. It was a throw-away novel – keep your reading time for something else.

Find it on:
goodreads_icon copyAmazon-Icon-e1335803835577-300x294 copybookdepository_icon copy1star

Review: Ellen Wittlinger – Gracie’s Girl

Posted on by
Reply
Gracie’s Girl
Ellen Wittlinger

Bess is a new 6th grader. She’s determined to appear different and make some cool new friends. Soon her perspective on what is important in life is going to change.

I think the relationships and development of characters is really genuine in this novel. Changing schools is a big burden, and kids do change. I would have gone with 11 being a bit young for developing boy-girl relationships, but what would I know? I completely understand Ethan and Bess’ perspectives on it, and find it funny that their third friend is the one that makes a go of it.

What this novel really does is promote social responsibility. A soup kitchen, somewhere for people to sleep out of the rain and snow. I love that it’s connected to a church, but that the church is not too churchy and preachy. I think that homelessness is more of a problem in the USA, but we certainly have our share of it here. If you have spare time, please do donate if you can.

I feel like Australian schools and parents are less pushy. In the plays I participated in, none of the stars or almost-stars were quite so Diva-y. And I was a stage manager, and it drove me nuts that people didn’t  pay attention to things, and I knew their lines better than they did. I wish I had seen more of the play. I’m not familiar with Bye Bye Birdy – maybe it is really relevant to the themes of the book? I would hope so. Charity is a virtue, and everyone should try to work to it.

I have a feeling that this novel is not good enough to jump the country divide. Grade 6 for Australians is the final year of primary school, so it wouldn’t make a difference what you looked like. Also, the majority of schools here have a school uniform. There are still uncool people, and bitchy girls, but that’s in any school. I say test it out in a classroom (because it asks lots of important questions), and see how it goes.

I have enjoyed other novels by Wittlinger, but this one falls short of the mark for me. I don’t think I’ll reread it, but I will put it on the shelf, in case I discover a home that it really needs (or that really needs it).

Find it on:
goodreads_icon copyAmazon-Icon-e1335803835577-300x294 copybookdepository_icon copy3star

Review: Anne Cassidy – Looking for JJ

Posted on by
Reply
Looking for JJ
Anne Cassidy
Alice Tully just wants to live a normal life, or appear to live one. After a tragedy 6 years ago, she is obsessed with researching Jennifer Jones in the papers. Soon history will catch up with her, and all hell will seem to break loose.
This isn’t an easy book to read, or a comfortable concept. The blurb on the back is in fact a little misleading. But I can’t explain it without wreaking the book. Let’s just say there’s a child, child killer involved, and I think that some of the judgements in the first place were wrong.
The first section of the book is from Alice Tully’s perspective. Apart from her obsession with Jennifer Jones, and some strange character quirks, you would say she was an ordinary girl. This is the part where the author weaved her spell around me effortlessly, until she dropped a bomb.
Look, the second part didn’t work for me. I was uncomfortable of the way JJ was treated from the beginning and her nativity. I guess she was only 10, and she didn’t know much, but still! I totally understand her humiliation, and even some of her reactions. She’s never been taught to control her feelings in a positive way. This is where the rapport you developed with Alice Tully spills over, and made it bearable. Unfortunately, I found that I wanted to skip through this section to find out what was happening in the present, and I had little interest in the ins and outs of who was going to be killed. I actually guessed incorrectly who would die.
Parts 3 and 4 were a great ending. I was made pretty sad by part 3, and part 4 gave me hope for the future. How can your past not catch up though?
If you want more information than what I’ve given you here, DO NOT GO TO WIKIPEDIA. You will spoil the whole suspense of the book for yourself. If you want some more hints or aren’t sure this book is for you due to specific trigger warnings or something similar, email me! Just fix the address to a normal gmail address.

Find it on:
goodreads_icon copyAmazon-Icon-e1335803835577-300x294 copybookdepository_icon copy4star